The Importance of Keeping Good Commercial Property Maintenance Records

 

Keeping proper maintenance records for your commercial property can feel daunting, but it’s important for the longevity of your assets. Consider how often you have professionals come to fix your property. From annual HVAC inspections to hiring professional contractors to regularly ensure your roof doesn’t leak, maintenance is essential to mitigate surprise operational expenses and keep your other assets and employees safe.

Let’s explore more about the importance of keeping organized and accurate commercial property maintenance records, including what you should include in them and how they can affect your insurance claims.

What should you include in your maintenance records?

It may feel extensive, but it’s important to include documentation of every time maintenance is performed on your commercial property. This includes every time you have a professional come to check your HVAC, lighting, electrical, exterior (roof and siding), interior and plumbing systems.

Maintenance is a proactive measure to keep your commercial property in peak working order (and maintain its value), but it can be easy to let routine inspections fall through the cracks. That’s why SafetyCulture recommended businesses keep a maintenance checklist handy. This can help facility managers accurately document maintenance activities and keep track of booking regular inspections with professionals.

Since this is the 21st century, we’re not talking about paper checklists either. Today, it’s easier than ever to find software or organize your own files to include maintenance records. An added bonus is that you can also upload pictures of the maintenance, which is especially useful when you need to identify when damage to your property occurred. Keeping your maintenance records online or on the cloud also helps ensure you don’t lose them or need to search through multiple databases or paperwork to find what you need.

How will insurance use your maintenance records?

Commercial property maintenance records are good for your own use. They can help you schedule routine inspections and remember other important maintenance dates. However, these records serve their most important purpose if you ever need to file an insurance claim on your commercial property.

As Raizner Law explained, there are strict criteria that must be met when you file a commercial property claim. First and foremost, the damage you are filing for must be covered by your policy. In other words, the insurer will want to know that your roof is leaking because of a recent hail storm, not because someone was walking on it or dropped a tool.

Similarly, an insurance company will be very hesitant to cover damage on older materials, like a roof. This is mainly because it can be difficult to determine if the damage was caused by an insured event or if it occurred because of general wear and tear.

In both of these instances, having organized and detailed maintenance records is essential. The paper trail, so to speak, can show when elements of your property were fixed and accompanying images show its state. This can help insurers pinpoint when damage occurred and adds to the validity of your claim.

A public adjuster can help organize your claim

Finding the right documents you need to file a successful commercial property claim can feel overwhelming, but a public adjuster can help. They take the time to understand your insurance policy and organize the materials you need to send to your insurer, including maintenance records.

Contact Stone Claims Group today to learn more about how our expert team of public adjuster can help you through your next commercial property insurance claim.

Any views and opinions expressed in this blog are those only of the author of same and may not be imputed to Stone Claims, its current or former agents, or their assigns and successors. Under no circumstances shall Stone Claims be held responsible or liable for same including, but not limited to, for any errors or omissions in the content of same.